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#1
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Memory Stick Life Span
What sort of life span do people get from their camera memory sticks? I
ask because I wonder if my camera (a Sony) wears them out faster than usual. Every few months, my camera starts to have problems reading the stick, especially when I go to upload the photos to my computer. The only way to solve the problem is to get a new stick - then everything runs slick as can be. It's true that I take a lot of photos, probably more than an average amateur, but certainly not to the level of a pro. Argo http://greenrealm.blogspot.com (a science fantasy) |
#2
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Memory Stick Life Span
Argo wrote: What sort of life span do people get from their camera memory sticks? The chips inside are supposed to be able to be 'written' no less than 100,000 times and more likely 1,000,000 times. I ask because I wonder if my camera (a Sony) wears them out faster than usual. Every few months, my camera starts to have problems reading the stick, especially when I go to upload the photos to my computer. The only way to solve the problem is to get a new stick - then everything runs slick as can be. It's true that I take a lot of photos, probably more than an average amateur, but certainly not to the level of a pro. Have you tride using contact cleaner on the pins of the stick to get any residual dirt and grease off the pins? |
#3
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Memory Stick Life Span
"Argo" wrote in message ups.com... What sort of life span do people get from their camera memory sticks? I ask because I wonder if my camera (a Sony) wears them out faster than usual. Every few months, my camera starts to have problems reading the stick, especially when I go to upload the photos to my computer. The only way to solve the problem is to get a new stick - then everything runs slick as can be. It's true that I take a lot of photos, probably more than an average amateur, but certainly not to the level of a pro. Argo http://greenrealm.blogspot.com (a science fantasy) What sort of numbers are you actually talking about? |
#4
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Memory Stick Life Span
Argo wrote: ... Every few months, my camera starts to have problems reading the stick, especially when I go to upload the photos to my computer. The only way to solve the problem is to get a new stick... I haven't had any problems with my 4 year old CompactFlash card or my one year old SD card. I think there may have been a time or two that my CF card became unreadable, but was made readable again by re-formatting. Have you tried reformatting the cards after they became unreadable? I will speculate on some possible causes - but my speculations are not based on any real knowledge: 1. Used the camera until the battery got low and writing to the card became eratic, damaging data or format on the card. 2. Writing to or erasing the card on the computer, but pulling the card out of the reader, or the reader plug out of the computer, before the operation was 100% complete. Either of those causes should be fixed by a reformat. Alan |
#5
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Memory Stick Life Span
Argo wrote: ... Every few months, my camera starts to have problems reading the stick, especially when I go to upload the photos to my computer. The only way to solve the problem is to get a new stick... I haven't had any problems with my 4 year old CompactFlash card or my one year old SD card. I think there may have been a time or two that my CF card became unreadable, but was made readable again by re-formatting. Have you tried reformatting the cards after they became unreadable? I will speculate on some possible causes - but my speculations are not based on any real knowledge: 1. Used the camera until the battery got low and writing to the card became eratic, damaging data or format on the card. 2. Writing to or erasing the card on the computer, but pulling the card out of the reader, or the reader plug out of the computer, before the operation was 100% complete. Either of those causes should be fixed by a reformat. Alan |
#6
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Memory Stick Life Span
In article . com, Argo
wrote: What sort of life span do people get from their camera memory sticks? I ask because I wonder if my camera (a Sony) wears them out faster than usual. Every few months, my camera starts to have problems reading the stick, especially when I go to upload the photos to my computer. The only way to solve the problem is to get a new stick - then everything runs slick as can be. It's true that I take a lot of photos, probably more than an average amateur, but certainly not to the level of a pro. Hint: The key to your problem my lie in the brand of your camera. |
#7
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Memory Stick Life Span
"Randall Ainsworth" wrote in message ... In article . com, Argo wrote: What sort of life span do people get from their camera memory sticks? I ask because I wonder if my camera (a Sony) wears them out faster than usual. Every few months, my camera starts to have problems reading the stick, especially when I go to upload the photos to my computer. The only way to solve the problem is to get a new stick - then everything runs slick as can be. It's true that I take a lot of photos, probably more than an average amateur, but certainly not to the level of a pro. Hint: The key to your problem my lie in the brand of your camera. What a totally stupid thing to say, memory sticks will last just the same as any other. |
#8
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Memory Stick Life Span
What I don't like about the memory stick - and I deliberately
avoided using it for that reason - is its being comparatively hard to find (compared to CF or SD cards), making costs higher. You can find the ordinary cards at any deep-discount office-supply place. No $4 to park! No $6 admission! http://stores.ebay.com/INTERNET-GUN-SHOW |
#9
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Memory Stick Life Span
Pete D wrote:
"Randall Ainsworth" wrote in message ... [] Hint: The key to your problem my lie in the brand of your camera. What a totally stupid thing to say, memory sticks will last just the same as any other. So if memory sticks should last as long as any other (with which I broadly agree), but someone is experiencing early failure, doesn't that suggest that the camera might be at fault? Yes, it could be the physical handling of the sticks as well, but it wouldn't be the first camera to be faulty or have bad firmware incompatible with some memory cards. Just this sort of problem has hit big name manufacturers like (IIRC) Canon and Lexar in the past .... David |
#10
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Memory Stick Life Span
On Sat, 15 Oct 2005 09:29:12 GMT, David J Taylor wrote:
Hint: The key to your problem my lie in the brand of your camera. What a totally stupid thing to say, memory sticks will last just the same as any other. So if memory sticks should last as long as any other (with which I broadly agree), but someone is experiencing early failure, doesn't that suggest that the camera might be at fault? Yes, it suggests that possibility, maybe even with a particular camera model. But it does not, as RA suggests, implicate the *brand* of the camera. Yes, it could be the physical handling of the sticks as well, but it wouldn't be the first camera to be faulty or have bad firmware incompatible with some memory cards. Just this sort of problem has hit big name manufacturers like (IIRC) Canon and Lexar in the past .... If the camera or its firmware was incompatible with the memory sticks, the problem would be evident from the beginning. The OP says that the problems don't appear until the cards have been used for several months. You should be familiar enough with RA by now to realize that he sometimes leaps at the chance to unfairly and illogically criticize people, techniques, camera types and brands. As Sony doesn't have the "pro" reputation of some other well known brands, to him they're fair game. To distract him from innocent bystanders the way one might toss a slab of red meat towards a lion, perhaps a few pseudo Preddy/Sigma trolls might be useful. |
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